The English countryside is everything you'd imagine it to be. Tranquil plains rolling over misty hills, friendly, hospitable people, local wildlife at every turn... Until you walk a good 12-14 hours through it all, then all that goes out the window while you babble incoherently to yourself about Neuneaton Station.
My destination in the UK was a tiny, tiny town called Twycross. It is the fabled home of one of the Kings of Video Games: Rareware. The objective was simple: Get to Rareware and thank them in person for making Banjo-Kazooie. I'm sure everyone has done that at one point or another, right? Right. The only thing I did not count on was just how hard this place is to get to.
My journey started in the town of Tamworth, a nice mini-city with all the city-amenities. Soon after departing, I realized my journey was going to be a long one. After two hours with no sign of my next destination, I amended that: A very long one.
Soon after starting the "home stretch" (read: final 4 hours) along the M42, a car finally stopped for me. It was to my dismay, however, that this car had flashing lights and all the familiar symptoms of a deportation waiting to happen. Yep, these cops were onto my little walking scheme. But, that dismay quickly turned into surprised gratitude when they drove me straight to Twycross. After chatting a bit on the way and slowly getting over the surrealism of the entire situation, I looked for a room in Twycross. Nothing. Oh well, I'll just head south towards Rareware and find a place on the way, right? Wrong.
The A444 is a Hell road. As opposed to the Road to Hell, which just leads to the lake of fire, the A444 has successfully converted Satan, Pluto and Isis's dark dominions into something resembling a road. For 10 hours I walked down this road. Why? I had no other choice. The nearest train station was at Nuneaton.
Nuneaton. 22:47. Last train out: 22:43. Let that one simmer for a bit.
I lost both money and sanity on this journey to Rareware Studios.
But I made it.
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